Crispy Honey Walnut Shrimp Recipe

Crispy honeyed shrimp with walnuts is a classic in Americanized Chinese cuisine. I only make this dish when we have guests at home because I find it too rich for regular consumption. It's definitely one of my favorites though!

Making honeyed shrimp is very similar to making dessert. The shrimp are coated with corn starch, then deep-fried until golden and crunchy. Then they're tossed in a sauce made of sweetened condensed milk, honey and mayonnaise. Walnuts are added for a little texture. The walnuts are sweetened in a homemade caramel which alos gives the dish a dessert-like quality. It may sound strange, but the honey and caramel really help bring out the natural sweetness of the dish.

Roasted Asparagus and Fresh Morel Pasta Recipe

Roasted asparagus pasta with fresh morels (pâtes aux morilles fraîches et asperges vertes) is a creamy, rich pasta dish. How could it not be delicious? First, I sautéed the morels in butter, added a white sauce (béchamel) mixed with crème fraîche, then tossed spaghetti rigati in the sauce. The final touch was roasted baby asparagus for contrast of color and some crunch, and lemon to cut the richness of the sauce. I chose baby asparagus because it most closely matches the thickness of the pasta and you can eat the whole stalks.

It was a perfect meal for a romantic dinner with my husband. I'm trying to be better about my eating habits, so I served smaller portions with a big salad. Eating right doesn’t have to mean giving up the foods you like. In fact, I think we have a better chance of maintaining healthy eating habits if we’re enjoying our meals. So enjoy this pasta; it might even help you lose weight!

Pan Fried King Bananas

Chuối ngự are Vietnamese bananas that look similar to small plantains. They have a starchy texture and a subtle sweetness. If you look for this particular banana in Asian markets, they're called King, Raja or emperor bananas.

King bananas can be prepared in a lot of ways. Today, I twice cooked them. First, I parboiled them, then I pan-fried the bananas in oil until golden brown. They make great appetizers if you top them with cheese and other condiments, or they also make a wonderful side dish. In this case, I paired them with baked fish.

Shrimp Spring Rolls (Vietnamese Roll Recipe)

Shrimp spring rolls (gỏi cuốn in Vietnamese) are the perfect finger food when we have a party. Not only are they healthy, but they're very tasty as well. I usually serve them sliced in half with a peanut and hoisin sauce on the side.

For this dish, I prefer to wrap the rolls with tapioca sheets, called bánh tráng mỏng in Vietnamese, which literally translates to "thin paper disks". They are thinner than rice paper, and as a result the shrimp are still visible once wrapped. The other plus of using tapioca sheets is that they look fresh longer, once they're made, versus the ones with rice paper. Tapioca rounds are stickier than rice paper when wet though, so it's a little more difficult to wrap them.

In these particular fresh rolls, I added the basic ingredients such as shrimp, rice noodles, bean sprouts, cucumber, lettuce and Vietnamese herbs. Meat could be added but I like them very simple. It's a fairly fast dish; the only long step is wrapping the rolls, but with our large family, the work was quite easy.

And for the vegetarians in the house, we wrapped bì cuốn chay, so everyone could share the same meal for dinner.

French Cauliflower Salad Recipe (Salade de Chou Fleur)

Today's recipe is an easy and healthy salad called "chou-fleur vinaigrette". During my childhood in France, it was a dish that was served fairly frequently at the cafeteria of my elementary school (carottes Vichy too!). Cauliflower is boiled, then coated with vinegar and oil and sprinkled with flat-leaf parsley. That’s it! Who says French cooking has to be complicated?

I've mentioned quite a few times lately that I've been trying to eat healthier. Cauliflower is a big part of that because it's packed with fiber and vitamin C. But cauliflower salad is not a full meal by itself, so I added hard-cooked quail eggs and a piece of bread on the side. It’s a simple, quick and healthy summer meal. Rachael Ray would be proud!